The present invention relates to metal halide vapor discharge lamps, and more particularly to lamps that have efficacies in excess of 35 lumens per watt, in some cases over 100 lumens per watt, at low to medium power, i.e. under 30 watts, and in some cases up to 40 watts. The present invention is more specifically concerned with an electrode structure which, in combination with the quartz tube geometry and the mercury, metal halide, and noble gas fill, makes the high efficacy possible.
Metal halide discharge lamps typically have a quartz tube that forms a bulb or envelope and defines a sealed arc chamber, a pair of electrodes, e.g. an anode and a cathode, which penetrate into the arc chamber inside the envelope, and a suitable amount of mercury and one or more metal halide salts, such as NaI, or ScI.sub.3, also reposed within the envelope. The vapor pressures of the metal halide salts and the mercury affect both the color temperature and efficacy. These are affected in turn by the quartz envelope geometry, anode and cathode insertion depth, arc gap size, and volume of the arc chamber in the envelope. Higher operating temperatures of course produce higher metal halide vapor pressures, but can also reduce the lamp life cycle by hastening quartz devitrification and causing tungsten metal loss from the electrodes. On the other hand, lower operating temperatures, especially near the bulb wall, can cause salt vapor to condense and crystallize on the walls of the envelope, causing objectionable flecks to appear in objects illuminated by the lamp.
Many metal halide discharge lamps of various styles and power ranges, and constructed for various applications, have been proposed, and are well known to those in the lamp arts. Lamps of this type are described, e.g. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,161,672; 4,808,876; 3,324,332; 2,272,467; 2,545,884; and 3,379,868. These are generally intended for high power applications, i.e., large area illumination devices or projection lamps. It has not been possible to provide a small lamp of high efficacy that could be used in a medical examination lamp or other application at a power of under about 40 watts. No one has previously approached lamp building with a view towards applying heat management principles to produce a lamp that would operates at low power and high efficacy and develops sufficient mercury and metal halide vapor pressures within the arc chamber without causing devitrification and softening of the quartz tube envelope, and without causing damage to the tungsten electrodes.